BYU men's soccer begins first Premier Development League Playoff run in 7 years

The BYU men's soccer team returns to the playoffs for the first time in seven years as the Cougars face the Ventura County Fusion on Saturday.

This is BYU's third trip to the playoffs since the Cougars joined the Premier Development League. As a club team, the Cougars don't compete in the NCAA and players on this team don't receive scholarships. BYU made it to the conference finals in 2006 and 2007 and hasn't been back to the playoffs until now.

“We have worked really hard for this game,” said head coach Christopher Watkins, according to BYU's official pregame press release. “The last time we made the playoffs was in 2007 and some of our players have been waiting a long time for this game. We are coming to the game 100 percent prepared.”

BYU went 5-0 in preseason play and started PDL play 4-0 before falling to FC Tuscon. The Cougars finished 7-4-3, good enough for second place in the Mountain Division. Ventura County finished the season 8-3-3 and won the Southwest Division.

Lafe Peavler is a staff sports writer for the Deseret News. Follow him on Twitter @LafePeavler.